Oleksandr Dovzhenko State Prize
The Oleksandr Dovzhenko State Prize of Ukraine is a state award honoring individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the development of Ukrainian cinema. It is named after acclaimed Soviet Ukrainian film director and screenwriter Oleksandr Dovzhenko, who was among the world's top filmmakers and a major figure of the Soviet film industry. The award was established on 10 September 1994 by Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Dovzhenko's birth. Award decisions are made by the Committee for the Oleksandr Dovzhenko State Prize of Ukraine—a group of eleven leading figures in the country's cinema appointed by either the government of Ukraine or the Committee's chair. Committee members serve on a voluntary basis to review prize submissions, identify exceptional works of Ukrainian cinema, and select the prize's recipient. Their selection is sent to the Ukrainian president, who officially grants the award and designates its cash amount by 10 September through a presidential decree. As a state award, the prize is the highest national recognition for cinema in Ukraine.
Any individual or creative team is eligible for the prize, with there being no nationality restrictions. For teams, the award submission cannot exceed five people and must comprise the group's most important contributors. Individuals may receive the prize more than once, provided that at least five years have passed since their last award and that they have made new outstanding achievements in cinematography since then. A person also cannot have nominations for two or more works open at the same time. Submissions are made by various institutions and organizations to the award committee annually by 1 June, after which the committee votes on narrowing down the best works and ultimately selecting the final awardee by 15 August, when the president receives the committee's selection. Laureates of the prize receive three rewards: a diploma, medal, and cash prize.
Since the prize was first awarded in 1995, 40 individuals have been officially given the prize, including three who were awarded posthumously. Two additional individuals, director and cinematographer, were selected by the award committee for the prize in 2010 together with composer Volodymyr Huba for their film but were not officially awarded the prize due to the required presidential decree not being signed. For Huba, he was later officially given the award as the sole laureate for 2014 in recognition of his overall career and contributions to Ukrainian cinema. No individual has yet officially received the prize more than once, although Huba remains the sole person to have won the competition twice: in 2014 and in 2010's unawarded prize. In addition to 2010, there have been six years in which the prize was not awarded: 1997, 2000, 2013, 2018, 2020, and 2023.